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2 BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION. 
it is evident that, if it is desirable that a sure and steady progress 
should be made in all that pertains to the art, those who practise it 
must be instructed by others who have made the organization of the 
foot their study, and can base their teaching upon knowledge thus 
obtained. 
Inasmuch as in the natural condition all parts of the foot come to 
the ground, the hoof of the young animal, which is brought to the 
forge for the first time, requires little or no preparation, beyond 
rendering the ground surface of the wall or crust perfectly level to 
receive the web of the shoe. The entire foot is in that condition 
best adapted for the artificial protection which, in his new relations 
to man, is hereafter to become a necessity to the animal. 
The foot that has already been shod requires the removal not only 
of the shoe with its nails, but also of its ground surface, in order 
that it may be brought to a proper level. In the majority of cases, 
the growth of the wall downwards from the coronary cushion is 
greatest at the toe, which is to be accounted for by the firm attach- 
ment of the shoe at this point, not allowing the motion between the 
iron and the horn, and the consequent wear which takes place at the 
heels, where the attachment is much less. In levelling the wall, we 
must be guided by the following rules. ‘The ground surface of the 
foot should be transverse to the direction of the pasterns, a condition 
which in most cases can be brought about by simply reducing the 
hoof at the toe to a level with the unpared sole. ‘Too great obliquity 
of the foot, which is produced by the undue amount of horn at the 
toe, increases the general obliquity of the pastern, and this condition 
increases the strain thrown upon the flexor tendons or back sinews. 
This undue obliquity of the foot constitutes one of the chief evils 
which follows the too frequent custom among farmers and others of 
allowing the shoe to remain on the foot for an indefinite length of 
time without removal. This period should never exceed a month. 
If, through neglect, the heels have been allowed to grow down 
beyond a natural limit, they must be lowered to an extent which will 
restore the ground surface to the desired level. Too great a height 
of heel renders the pasterns more upright, and consequently too great 
weight is thrown upon the pastern bones. 
The operation so universally adopted by farriers of “opening up” 
the heels is one of the most barbarous, senseless, and useless proceed- 
